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Minimalism and New Complexity in Solo Flute Repertoire by Twila Dawn Bakker Bachelor of Arts, Univer

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Minimalism and New Complexity in Solo Flute Repertoire by Twila Dawn Bakker Bachelor of Arts, Univer Two Responses to Modernism: Minimalism and New Complexity in Solo Flute Repertoire by Twila Dawn Bakker Bachelor of Arts, University of Alberta, 2008 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the School of Music Twila Dawn Bakker, 2011 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Two Responses to Modernism: Minimalism and New Complexity in Solo Flute Repertoire by Twila Dawn Bakker Bachelor of Arts, University of Alberta, 2008 Supervisory Committee Dr. Jonathan Goldman, School of Music Supervisor Dr. Michelle Fillion, School of Music Departmental Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Jonathan Goldman, School of Music Supervisor Dr. Michelle Fillion, School of Music Departmental Member Wind repertoire, especially for flute, has received little focused attention in the musicological world especially when compared with other instruments. This gap in scholarship is further exacerbated when the scope of time is narrowed to the last quarter of the twentieth century. Although Minimalism and New Complexity are – at least superficially – highly divergent styles of composition, they both exhibit aspects of a response to modernism. An examination of emblematic examples from the repertoire for solo flute (or recorder), specifically focusing on: Louis Andriessen’s Ende (1981); James Dillon’s Sgothan (1984), Brian Ferneyhough’s Carceri d’Invenzione IIb (1984), Superscripto (1981), and Unity Capsule (1975); Philip Glass’s Arabesque in Memoriam (1988); Henryk Górecki’s Valentine Piece (1996); and Steve Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint (1982), allows for the similarities in both genre’s response to modernism to be highlighted. These works are situated historically and characteristics of both styles are highlighted with particular regard to Late or Post-Modernism. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ...............................................................................................................iv List of Tables.......................................................................................................................v List of Figures.....................................................................................................................vi Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ vii Dedication........................................................................................................................ viii Preface .................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Features of Late Modernist Music ......................................................................9 Post-Modern Origins .....................................................................................................10 What is Post-Modernism in Music? ..............................................................................12 Chapter 2 The Varieties of Minimalist Music: a Geographic Approach...........................18 Characteristics of Minimalism ......................................................................................21 Minimalism as a Style in the Late Modern Era.............................................................26 The Development of Minimalism in America: San Francisco to New York.................28 Minimalism in Holland and the Legacy of Louis Andriessen.......................................35 The Sacred Minimalists: Tavener, Pärt, Górecki...........................................................40 Chapter 3 Minimalism in Solo Flute Repertoire: Analysis of Emblematic Works by Reich, Glass, Andriessen and Górecki ..............................................................................45 Vermont Counterpoint – Steve Reich ............................................................................45 Arabesque in Memoriam – Philip Glass........................................................................50 Ende – Louis Andriessen ...............................................................................................53 Valentines for Solo Flute – Henryk Górecki..................................................................55 Chapter 4 The Development of New Complexity: a Geographic Approach.....................62 Characteristics of New Complexity...............................................................................63 New Complexity as a Style in the Late Modern Era .....................................................67 The Development of New Complexity in the United Kingdom....................................69 New Complexity at Darmstadt ......................................................................................71 Chapter 5 New Complexity in Solo Flute Repertoire: Analysis of Emblematic Works by Ferneyhough and Dillon ....................................................................................................76 Unity Capsule – Brian Ferneyhough .............................................................................76 Superscripto – Brian Ferneyhough................................................................................82 Carceri d’Invenzione IIb – Brian Ferneyhough ............................................................85 Sgothan – James Dillon .................................................................................................87 Chapter 6 Conclusions.......................................................................................................91 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................95 Scores ..........................................................................................................................100 Selected Discography ..................................................................................................100 Appendix A Textural Analysis of Steve Reich’s Vermont Counterpoint .......................101 v List of Tables Table 0.1. Timeline of select compositions for wind instruments involving techniques of Minimalism and New Complexity, between 1975 and 1996. .............................................7 Table 1.1. Post-Modern characteristics as a means of definition. .....................................14 Table 2.1. Common characteristics of minimal music. .....................................................22 Table 3.1. Overview of formal elements in Steve Reich's Vermont Counterpoint. ..........48 Table 3.2. Presentation of musical motives in Arabesque in Memoriam by Philip Glass.52 Table 3.3. Utilization of time signatures in Louis Andriessen's Ende...............................54 Table 3.4. The development of the initial motivic cell in the opening material of the three sections of Henryk Górecki’s Valentine Piece..................................................................59 Table 4.1. Summary of stances held by five composers associated with the New Complexity movement. .....................................................................................................66 Table 4.2. Winners of the Komposition Kranichsteinerpreis. ...........................................74 Table 5.1. Symbols used by Dillon to indicate an air inflection on the flute’s tone in Sgothan. .............................................................................................................................88 vi List of Figures Figure 2.1. Surface connections of the New York network focusing on the figures of Richard Serra, Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Sol LeWitt.................................................35 Figure 3.1. The development of the fragment in rehearsal 2 to the melody of rehearsal 4 in Reich's Vermont Counterpoint. .....................................................................................49 Figure 3.2. Lines of individuation in Henryk Górecki`s Valentine Piece. ........................57 Figure 3.3. Development of initial motivic cell (A) in Henryk Górecki’s Valentine Piece. ...........................................................................................................................................58 Figure 5.1. Quarter-tone notation utilized by Brian Ferneyhough in Unity Capsule. .......78 Figure 5.2. Spectrum of flute tone quality utilized by Ferneyhough in Unity Capsule. ...79 Figure 5.3. A graphical representation of the notated segments of Brian Ferneyhough’s Unity Capsule. ...................................................................................................................81 Figure 5.4. Superscripto mm. 43-45 by Brian Ferneyhough.............................................84 Figure 5.5. Carceri d’Invenzione IIb mm. 74 - 75 by Brian Ferneyhough. ......................86 Figure 5.6. Sgothan mm. 1-5 by James Dillon. .................................................................89 vii Acknowledgments Yarding the stars when they drift away And towing the sun on a golden chain, On a silver line, drinking cups of coffee. -“Tugboats,” Bob Bossin The support (and sometimes tow) I have
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